


Eidolon

by useinu



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Actually never mind I don't know how to tag, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Will tag as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-01-15 09:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18495709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/useinu/pseuds/useinu
Summary: Moving out to the city to work at a detective agency might've been Tanuma’s worst life decision yet, but he's pretty sure there are still plenty more to come.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ellezahuay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellezahuay/gifts).



> Where is my Natsume?  
> Sloppy plot, sloppy ending. I have no idea what I'm doing, but here we go-go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Temporary title until I find something that actually sounds like one.

The sound of glass breaking everywhere doesn’t help with Kaname’s throbbing headache.   
  
First was a gunshot to the window, with shards flying out of the building and gushes of wind blasting indoors, followed by the terrified screams of people, dropping to the floor with hands over their heads. With the target he was hired to protect in sight and kneeling among the crowd, Kaname was ready to pull out his own gun until the man in his charge _himself_ stood up calmly, and with a strange, tattered book secured under his arm, shouted something akin to a name into the air.   
  
And that’s when everything made out of glass decided to explode.   
  
The lights went out with deafening “pop”s, and the rest of the windows shattered inwards. Kaname’s migraine grew with each yell the gunman released, but his grip on his handgun never lessened.   
  
Another sudden burst of wind knocks the rifle out of the man’s hands, and _really_ , yet another breaks it as if someone had stepped on it on the floor.   
  
The man shouts a _“sensei!”_ to his behind, and a creature that looks like a cat (Kaname decides within a split second) tumbles out from between his legs. With its size and (obvious) weight it flings itself into the man’s face, effectively knocking him down for his owner to handcuff.   
  
The whole scene takes Kaname a phone call’s time to process, and until the man pockets his device and turns around, he spends his time pondering on why this man even needed a bodyguard in the first place.   
  
_I’m sorry, Fujiwara-san. It seems like your son would be a better choice of a bodyguard than me._   
  
The police arrive within the blink of an eye, securing the scene, bringing out the perpetrator, and calming down teary-eyed public. Kaname takes the chance to walk up to his charge for a late introduction, headache forgotten and left behind (as well as his job unfinished).     
  
“Natsume? Natsume Takashi?”   
  
The flaxen-haired man turns around with the tap on his shoulder, the cat from earlier dangling from his crossed arms. The notebook he was holding at first is nowhere to be seen, but Kaname reckons it lies in the bag strapped around the man’s waist.   
  
“Yes?” Natsume asks slowly with his eyes narrowed. “Do I know you?”   
  
“I’m Tanuma Kaname,” he tries weakly. “The one Fujiwara-san hired as a bodyguard.”   
  
Whatever expression about to form on Natsume’s face immediately drops to make way for a smile, the change so sudden Kaname has to think twice first. “Tanuma,” Natsume greets with a nod of his head. “Thank you for coming, but really, Touko-san shouldn’t have...”   
  
His sentence trails off as he looks down at the fat cat in his arms, as if expecting it to help finish his sentence. Said animal none but huffs and whacks a paw against his owner’s arm.   
  
“I wonder why Fujiwara-san would hire you a bodyguard when you could’ve handled the whole thing by yourself,” Kaname laughs. “But still, are you unharmed?”   
  
“Perfectly fine,” Natsume assures, then reaches into his pocket only to pull out an agent’s badge. “Which reminds me…”

“... Eh?”   
  
The exclamation causes Natsume to smile bashfully, as if embarrassed by the fact that he had single-handedly arrested the gunman from just now. Without even touching him.   
  
“A bit late for an introduction, but I’m Natsume Takashi, as you already know.” The badge in his hand flips to show his photo next to loud, proclaiming words in black. “Furuuchi Detective Agency’s very own Natsume at your service. Looking forward to working with you, Tanuma.”

Somewhere in Kaname’s head a fuse blows. “You? Work at my agency?”

“... Yes?” The expression on Natsume’s face looks confused to the point it seems comical, and Kaname can feel his nose twitch and muscles twist to mirror the other. “I thought you knew when you took the job?”  

With messy gold hair and a sea-green jacket thrown carelessly over thin shoulders, no one would’ve taken Natsume Takashi seriously if he’d told them he was an undercover agent with that sweet smile of his. Kaname would’ve begged to differ.

“Let's get out of here first,” Natsume offers quietly. “I have a feeling we’re going to have quite the long talk, and I know a nice place around here, so…?”

“Only after you call the Fujiwaras to tell them you’re alright,” Kaname says, but finds himself following after his companion (colleague, actually) anyways.

Perhaps, he was getting more than what he expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That one (1) paragraph that spawned this whole mess: 
> 
> Tanuma is hired as a bodyguard for Natsume (by Touko) since he got a threat (whaddat), but turns out Natsume is also an undercover agent behind the Fujiwaras’ backs and goes “oh so you’re Tanuma nice to meet you I’ve heard about the new guy at our agency it’s you?” And Tanuma goes “???? What the fuck we work at the same place” and holy shit this sounds ridiculous
> 
> Also:   
> Natsume has a part time job at a kindergarten/nursery/daycare or something but the Fujiwaras never question why he brings home more money than his salary


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry this is boring, absolutely boring, conversation-based filler, but since this thing has no plot whatsoever i had to write this chapter  
> so if you find any plotholes just blame it on my crippling plot-making abilities thank you  
> you can see where i just started bullshitting im so. sorry

“Good morning!” Nishimura shouts, far too chipper for a man who wakes at 6 only to start work at 7, as Kaname drags himself into the office with coffee in one hand and newspapers in the other. “How did yesterday go?” 

“I’m offended,” he mumbles while setting his drink down on his desk, unbothered by his colleague’s excessive enthusiasm, “by how  _ none _ of you bothered to tell me about Natsume beforehand.” 

Nishimura leans into the leather back of his chair as it reclines under his weight, his vibrating phone laying forgotten next to his feet on the desk. “Oh! You met him, right? Nice guy, isn’t he?” 

Kaname can hear Kitamoto hum in agreement before shouting a  _ “good morning!” _ at himself from behind tall shelves as well, and after greeting his colleague back, sits down at his own workspace to smother his table with grey papers. He’s barely skimmed through the first page when Natsume’s tired greeting reaches them, yawning with his cat trotting at his heels. Kaname offers a small wave of his own when he walks by his desk while Kitamoto shouts the same hello, but doesn’t actually look up from his reading until Natsume lets out a long, exasperated sigh. 

“Nishimura—“ the thud of binders against wood— “your table isn’t that big for nothing. Keep your own things on your own desk—” followed by a long string of “eh!”s and “ah!”s and a possible curse or two. Nishimura takes Kitamoto’s well-covered snicker as an apparent act of betrayal and all but leaps off his deck to tackle the man into a playful headlock, while Natsume yawns disinterested and heads back to his own table. 

Kaname genuinely wonders how often this happens. 

“Rowdy as usual,” Sasada comments, heaving a box of files in front of her as she enters the office, cutting his thoughts before he can jump to any more ridiculous conclusions. “Good morning,” she adds cheerily, and the same is shouted by Taki who follows her from behind. Kitamoto takes the chance to escape, elbowing his friend in the ribs while slinking away from his arms. 

“Those files.” He points at Sasada’s arms, slightly out of breath from the rough housing. “For the Piano case?” 

Kaname doesn't know who to question for their  _ accurate _ naming sense. “ _ Piano? _ ”

Sasada hums in thought, prodding up with a knee at the bottom of the cardboard box to stop it from slipping down her skirt any further. “If you all would hurry up and get ready for the meeting in two minutes, then maybe…” 

 

* * *

 

 

Kaname’s newspaper is still half finished on his desk when they all pile into the meeting room through that bottleneck of a door. He doesn’t see the actual need for one with everyone’s tendencies to shout, but apparently Sasada had insisted on the formalities when they were designing the office. As usual, she and Kitamoto take up the first two seats closest to the whiteboard, while the rest of them shuffle around in the remaining seats. 

“Before we start, I’d like to welcome Natsume-kun back to the office!” Sasada claps her hands next to her cheek softly as brief nods are exchanged. “And now, to the main topic. I’ll go over some details of the case first, so that Tanuma-kun can familiarise himself with the situation first.” 

A map of Hitoyoshi is pinned on the mobile whiteboard Sasada flips over, red circles and markings littering the paper with photographs posted all over, and another more detailed map of Yatsuhara is posted by its side. 

“Two weeks ago we received a call from Abe-sama, who wanted to hire a detective to help track down her runaway teenage son. It had been two days since he was last seen, and with the recent trail of hands found — yes, Nishimura?”

“What hands do you mean?” 

“If you would just keep quiet,” Sasada scolds, but continues nonetheless with her arms crossed. “Police have been receiving reports on mangled hands being found in the forests near Yatsuhara, which has freaked the local inhabitants out to the point they’ve been starting to move out. This is also because for every hand they find, the police have found matching bodies in the nearby areas — yes, Nishimura?”

“What does that have to do with Abe-san’s request~?” 

“Shut up and listen!” Sasada clicks her tongue as her nose scrunches up. “Ten murders in seven weeks! The police have only received a tip or two! No leads! Of course she’d be worried about her son, you goof! No more talking until I’m done briefing Tanuma-kun!” 

And with the unsaid threat hanging in the air and an “ahem” to clear her throat, Sasada Jun continues on. “Fortunately, Abe-sama’s son reported himself in at a police station the next day, but the danger of being murdered is still here, which then brings us to our current situation. Our client, Asahina-sama, had been unable to contact her son since last Friday, and as pained as I am to say this, her son’s hand and body were found successively about a kilometer away from each other, in the eastern parts of the forest.” 

Tanuma takes a second or two to process everything. “So Asahina-san’s request is for us to find her son’s killer?”

“Exactly.” An approving nod from Sasada. “With that said, Kitamoto, you go on about the details.” 

As his partner plops down into her swivel chair, Kitamoto rises successively, the way his shoulders square and his posture straighten somewhat like opening cardboard boxes after online shopping. Tanuma takes another second or a few to imagine what would be the goods inside.  _ (Ridiculous.) _

“I’m going to be fast about this,” he says, shoulders sagging yet again in growing weariness. “As Sasada mentioned, ten murders in seven weeks, all done with a knife, plunged into the side of the neck and twisted.” He raises his hand to imitate the point of a knife, twirling his outstretched pinky against his neck. “Since we don’t have any actual photos of the body, we only know that it was done almost in an unnatural way, as the police had told Asahina-san. The flesh was twisted in a brutal way, I’m not going to go into detail here, since it was pretty,” a delayed frown, “you know, uncomfortable to hear about anyways. It was almost like the attacker had inhuman strength, with the huge, albeit finger-like bruises around the victim’s neck.” 

“Supernatural? Maybe the guy just had big hands?” 

“The guy’s windpipe was crushed entirely as well, along with the twisting on its side.” Sasada made a “bleh” sound as Kitamoto illustrated with his hands around his own. “Asahina-san also dabbles in a bit of exorcism, nothing too fancy, more like superstition, so she’s somewhat set her mind on the story where her son was killed by some ghost. Poor woman, must’ve been too shocked to think clearly.” 

A clear of his own throat before raising another question. “So we’re… going to find a ghost murderer?”  

“Something like that.” Quietly, Natsume finally speaks up for the first time, but his eyes are glowing with something akin to confidence or determination: wide and cat-like, like he already has a clear idea on what he has to do. “And with that said, Kitamoto, it’s time to assign us work now…” 

The rest of the meeting passes in a flurry as Kaname attempts to process everything he had just heard. The other members are all chattering like they totally believe in Natsume and his ghost murderer theory, and he has to blink twice when Natsume beams at him as they’re both assigned to investigating the area.  _ Ghost murderer? Really? No one is questioning him? _ Well, seems like it, and the meeting is called over and they all dissipate to fulfill their own missions. 

Natsume smiles at him again, this time all knowing and strangely omnipotent, and his fat cat purrs at his feet, dragging a paw against its cheek as it peers through those tiny, green eyes at him. “I suppose we’ll be heading over to Hitoyoshi now, Tanuma.” An extended arm, an invitation. Tanuma blinks twice once again. 

“Time to get to work.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes it does take me five months to post a bad quality:tm: update :pensive:  
> sorrymasen


End file.
